Why Does Glen Miranker Collect Books?

 At the March 2023 meeting of the Red Circle of Washington DC (a Sherlockian scion), renowned book collector Glen Miranker presented on the topic "Why Does Glen Miranker Collect Books?". I captured video and audio of the talk, and my good friend Kyle helped turn this into a video which is available on the Red Circle Youtube channel and posted as part of this post. 

The presentation highlights features of some truly valuable items in Glen's collection. But it also makes an important point - that no matter how valuable or inexpensive an item you own, there may be some wonderful connections to previous owners in that book (criminal or otherwise!). 

You can read more about Red Circle meetings at the official site (http://www.redcircledc.org) and for each meeting you can see Peter Blau's notes on the meeting.

As you will see in the video, after Glen concluded the presentation and answered questions, there was a surprise. Glen slowly unwrapped and unpacked ACD's original manuscript of "The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter". It was incredibly exciting to see an original manuscript, and Glen was exceptionally kind to share the experience with the group.

A close-up of the first page of the handwritten story, with title

Three manuscript pages displayed. 

Glen Miranker the generous presenter, posing with his manuscript, the humble author, and the humble author's daughter who was dragged along but appreciated the experience.

If you are in the DC area - or even if you aren't - make a plan to attend a Red Circle luncheon!

On a light note to end this post, over the past two years Glen's AMAZING exhibition of Sherlockian items titled "Sherlock Holmes in 221 Objects" has toured the country. I was lucky enough to visit the first exhibition at the Grolier Club in NY in 2022, and purchase a copy of the exhibition catalog. It is a beautiful book, and I took my copy to the Red Circle meeting to ask Glen to sign it. At the moment of signing, Glen was approached by someone else, and he was horrified to find he'd mis-dedicated the book to "Michael Hall" - no problem! Just add a correction! And so I am the owner of an exceedingly rare copy of the exhibition catalog signed by Glen, and with an extra set of GM initials over a correction to the dedication. Centuries from now, an owner will be presenting a presentation on their book collection and wondering how Matt Hall could be so forgetable :)

The cover of the wonderful exhibition catalog.

The unique and collectable dedication signed by Glen!